Christian Rock Music


As many of you already know, we are now reaping what we as a country have sown in the last 50 years and we are now seeing the fruits of it. 
A few days ago I had a talk with a couple of young kids from our church.  They described the despair and troubled minds of their peers that they live among and go to school with.  One little five your old boy talks constantly of suicide.  A young lady of 8 has already tried suicide.  Hardly a month goes by before we hear of more attempted or successful suicides. 

A young lady was raped in the class hallway of a local high school by a gang of boys.  This high school was not considered in a poor or dangerous district.
Police are in the schools with dogs to sniff out drugs.  We've told them its okay to kill the unborn, we've let television be the babysitter.  We've thrown out all mention of the name of God from our schools.  The schools are full of the homosexual agenda and all the political correct junk is thrown at them instead of academics.  The churches can no longer reach them.
 
We've had youth pastors, recreational centers in our churches, we've tried video games, lock ins, youth conventions, Christian rock, and nothing is working.  Its getting worse. 
 
I'm wondering if we all should go back to the drawing board as the saying goes in other words go back to our prayer closets, open up our churches for prayer meetings and see if we can find out God's way to dealing with our youth.  Our ways are not working.  The youth we are seeing today is going to run the government and our churches tomorrow.  Its now not just the teens but the grade school children that are troubled.  We've heard of a gang of young kids that plotted to kill their teacher recently in the news. 
 
Its time to earnestly seek God and start to really pray for our young people.  I think only an outpouring of God's power can possibly save them.  It may be to the point that "this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting."   To all who believe in prayer, we have to get serious about this.  We are losing a whole generation of kids. 

Could Christian rock music distract our young people from the real message of the gospel we are trying to bring to them? Many times we may attempt to use popular Christian rock bands to lure the young people to meetings for the purpose of getting them off the streets, preaching the gospel and bringing growth to the youth group but I wonder if the purpose is defeated when the music may be a distraction to the message. First of all, one cannot always hear the message given through the music because the bands are so loud that the lyrics go unnoticed. Secondly by the time the real message is preached, they are so charged up by the music that the message may not be getting through.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. I see very little fruit among young people of the church as a whole that would cause us to see them as born again Christians. Teen pregnancies, sex before marriage is just as common among the churched kids as the unchurched so how are we making a difference? Another troubling factor is that suicide among young people in increasing at alarming numbers as I mentioned before, and there have been some associated with the church. Back when they first started bringing in video games, having lock ins, more parties, Christian rock concerts, we were told that we needed more things to hold their interest and get them "saved." Well, we had that stuff for years and it doesn't seem to be working.

Perhaps we need to return to seeking and trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to change their lives instead of using the world to lure them into the realm of safety. Yes, we would have fewer numbers but the ones we do have just may be called into the ministry and go forth to preach the gospel as we are instructed to do. If you use worldly methods to reach the youth, we will attract many that come only for that and they will (I've seen it happen) draw away the kids that grow up in the church. Seems to me that training the ones we already have in the gospel and seeking to see them filled with the Holy Spirit after they have come to Christ for salvation may be an old fashioned concept but it just might work. Drug addicts who have been saved off the streets from addiction are less likely to return to drugs if they go on to be filled with the Holy Spirit after conversion.

The dependency on the Holy Spirit and crying out for His return to our churches may be the only answer the youth of today have. There is no other power that can deliver them from the lure and attraction of the world around them.

When we use loud rock music with blaring guitars and keyboards we just might be giving them a high, a good feeling and a substitute for the real power of the Holy Spirit that can change their lives.

I've sat in church before and listened to testimonies of kids who have returned to the home church after visiting youth camps and youth conventions. There is very little about Jesus mentioned, conversion to Christ or the infilling of the Holy Spirit but all I've heard is "The music was great." The music, the music, and then again "What did you like the most about youth camp?" The music.

I remember hearing about kids who used to receive the Holy Spirit when they went to camps and youth meetings? Where are those testimonies today?

 

Disclaimer: This message may or may not reflect the teachings of the Church of God of Prophecy.